Dynamically Publishing Directory Information For A Plurality Of Interactive Voice Response Systems

ABSTRACT

Methods, apparatus, and products are disclosed for dynamically publishing directory information for a plurality of interactive voice response (‘IVR’) systems through an IVR directory service that include: providing a description of a web services publication interface for the IVR directory service; receiving, on behalf of one or more IVR systems, web services publication requests through the publication interface; determining, in response to the web services publication requests, directory information for each IVR system requesting publication; adding the directory information for each IVR system to an IVR system directory; generating a voice mode user interface to reflect the directory information for each IVR system added to the IVR system directory; and interacting, using the voice mode user interface, with a caller to identify a particular IVR system in dependence upon the IVR system directory and query information provided by the caller and to connect the caller with the identified IVR system.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The field of the invention is data processing, or, more specifically,methods, apparatus, and products for dynamically publishing directoryinformation for a plurality of interactive voice response (‘IVR’)systems.

2. Description of Related Art

Despite the pervasiveness of other types of devices, telephones remainthe most popular devices through which people obtain information whenthey are on the go. As a result, more and more service providers areadding or enhancing IVR systems for their businesses to providecustomers with twenty four hour automated access to information andservices. To access an IVR system, however, callers first need to knowthe phone number to dial that allows the caller to establish aconnection with the IVR system. Unfortunately, the phone numbers formany IVR systems are unknown to callers, especially new or recentlydeployed IVR systems. Furthermore, typical telephones only store arelatively small number of frequently dialed phone numbers and thereforemay not contain the phone number for the IVR system desired by a caller.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Methods, apparatus, and products are generally disclosed for dynamicallypublishing directory information for a plurality of interactive voiceresponse (‘IVR’) systems that include: providing, by an IVR directoryservice, a description of a web services publication interface for theIVR directory service; receiving, by the IVR directory service on behalfof one or more IVR systems requesting publication, web servicespublication requests through the web services publication interface forthe IVR directory service; determining, by the IVR directory service inresponse to the web services publication requests, directory informationfor each IVR system requesting publication; adding, by the IVR directoryservice, the directory information for each IVR system to an IVR systemdirectory; generating, by the IVR directory service, a voice mode userinterface to reflect the directory information for each IVR system addedto the IVR system directory; and interacting, by the IVR directoryservice using the voice mode user interface, with a caller to identify aparticular IVR system in dependence upon the IVR system directory andquery information provided by the caller and to connect the caller withthe identified IVR system.

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of theinvention will be apparent from the following more particulardescriptions of exemplary embodiments of the invention as illustrated inthe accompanying drawings wherein like reference numbers generallyrepresent like parts of exemplary embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 sets forth a network diagram illustrating an exemplary system fordynamically publishing directory information for a plurality of IVRsystems according to embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 2 sets forth a block diagram of automated computing machinerycomprising an example of a computer useful in dynamically publishingdirectory information for a plurality of IVR systems according toembodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 3 sets forth a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method ofdynamically publishing directory information for a plurality of IVRsystems according to embodiments of the present invention.

FIG. 4 sets forth a flow chart illustrating a further exemplary methodof dynamically publishing directory information for a plurality of IVRsystems according to embodiments of the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXEMPLARY EMBODIMENTS

Exemplary methods, apparatus, and products for dynamically publishingdirectory information for a plurality of IVR systems according toembodiments of the present invention are described with reference to theaccompanying drawings, beginning with FIG. 1. FIG. 1 sets forth a linedrawing illustrating an exemplary system for dynamically publishingdirectory information for a plurality of IVR systems (120) according toembodiments of the present invention. The exemplary system of FIG. 1includes IVR servers (122) having installed upon them IVR systems (120).Specifically, IVR server (122 a) has installed upon it IVR system (120a), IVR server (122 b) has installed upon it IVR system (120 b), and IVRserver (122 c) has installed upon it IVR system (120 c).

Each IVR system (120) of FIG. 1 is a set of software components thatoperate together to interact with a caller through a telephone usingspeech and touch tones. Each IVR system (120) has a phone number that acaller may use to establish a communications connection through thecaller's telephone. Upon connecting to a caller, each IVR system (120)may provide the caller with certain information or prompt the caller toprovide the IVR system (120) with information using pre-recorded ordynamically generated speech. The IVR system (120) may then receivingresponses from the caller in the form of touch tones generated from thecaller's operation of the phone's keypad or in the form of speechprovided by the caller. When the caller provides speech, the IVR system(120) may then utilize a speech engine to recognize and interpret thecaller's speech. The interaction between an IVR system and a caller isgenerally governed by the IVR system's call flow. Older IVR systemsoften utilized proprietary programming or scripting languages togenerate the system's call flow, but the call flow for modern IVRsystems are typically structured similar to web pages using VoiceExtensible Markup Language (‘VoiceXML’), Speech Application LanguageTags (‘SALT’), Telera's Extensible Markup Language (‘T-XML’) language,and so on. Example applications of IVR systems may include telephonebanking, televoting, credit card transactions, telephone investing,teleshopping, and so on. Such IVR systems are useful because thesesystems scale well to handle large call volumes and provide twenty-fourhour, seven day a week access to information and services.

The exemplary system of FIG. 1 includes an IVR directory server (152)having installed upon it an IVR directory service (102) and a speechengine (153). The IVR directory service (102) is a specialized IVRsystem that provides callers with directory information of other IVRsystems registered with the IVR directory service (102). The IVRdirectory service (102) of FIG. 1 includes a set of computer programinstructions for dynamically publishing directory information for aplurality of IVR systems according to embodiments of the presentinvention. The IVR directory service (102) of FIG. 1 operates generallyfor dynamically publishing directory information for a plurality of IVRsystems according to embodiments of the present invention as follows:The IVR directory service (102) provides a description (116) of a webservices publication interface for the IVR directory service (102) thatthe IVR systems (120) may use to register with the IVR directory service(102). On behalf of the IVR systems (120) requesting publication, theIVR directory service (102) receives web services publication requeststhrough the web services publication interface for the IVR directoryservice (102). In response to the web services publication requests, theIVR directory service (102) then determines directory information foreach IVR system (120) requesting publication. The IVR directory service(102) adds the directory information for each IVR system (120) to an IVRsystem directory (118). The IVR directory service (102) generates avoice mode user interface to reflect the directory information for eachIVR system added to the IVR system directory. Using the voice mode userinterface, the IVR directory service (102) interacts with a caller (138)to identify a particular IVR system in dependence upon the IVR systemdirectory (118) and query information provided by the caller (138) andto connect the caller (138) with the identified IVR system.

The IVR directory service (102) of FIG. 1 includes an IVR browser (110)and an IVR directory application (112). The IVR browser (110) of FIG. 1renders voice dialogs (114) to provide an interface between the IVRdirectory service (102) and the caller (138). In addition, the IVRbrowser generates speech for prompting the caller (138) using speechengine (153) and recognizing speech input from the caller (138) usingthe speech engine (153) and grammars (113). The voice dialogs (114) ofFIG. 1 are documents that specify the call flow defining the interactionbetween the IVR directory server (102) and the caller (138). The voicedialogs (114) may be implemented using VoiceXML, SALT, T-XML, or in anyother language as will occur to those of skill in the art.

In the example of FIG. 1, the speech engine (153) is a functionalmodule, typically a software module, although it may include specializedhardware also, that does the work of recognizing and generating or‘synthesizing’ human speech. The speech engine implements speechrecognition by use of a further module referred to in this specificationas an automated speech recognition (‘ASR’) engine, and the speech enginecarries out speech synthesis by use of a further module referred to inthis specification as a text-to-speech (‘TTS’) engine.

The grammars (113) of FIG. 1 communicate to the speech engine (153) thewords and sequences of words eligible for speech recognition during theinteractions specified by the voice dialogs (114). Grammars useful indynamically publishing directory information for a plurality of IVRsystems according to embodiments of the present invention may beexpressed in any format supported by any speech engine, including, forexample, the Java Speech Grammar Format (‘JSGF’), the format of the W3CSpeech Recognition Grammar Specification (‘SRGS’), the AugmentedBackus-Naur Format (‘ABNF’) from the IETF's RFC2234, in the form of astochastic grammar as described in the W3C's Stochastic Language Models(N-Gram) Specification, and in other grammar formats as may occur tothose of skill in the art. Grammars typically operate as elements ofdialogs, such as, for example, a VoiceXML <menu> or an X+V<form>. Agrammar's definition may be expressed in-line in a dialog. Or thegrammar may be implemented externally in a separate grammar document andreferenced from with a dialog with a URI. Here is an example of agrammar expressed in JSFG:

<grammar scope=“dialog” ><![CDATA[   #JSGF V1.0;   grammar command;  <command> = [remind me to] call | phone | telephone   <name> <when>;  <name> = bob | martha | joe | pete | chris | john | artoush | tom;  <when> = today | this afternoon | tomorrow | next week;   ]]></grammar>

In this example, the elements named <command>, <name>, and <when> arerules of the grammar. Rules are a combination of a rule name and anexpansion of a rule that advises a speech engine or a voice interpreterwhich words presently can be recognized. In this example, expansionincludes conjunction and disjunction, and the vertical bars ‘|’ mean‘or.’ A speech engine or a voice interpreter processes the rules insequence, first <command>, then <name>, then <when>. The <command> ruleaccepts for recognition ‘call’ or ‘phone’ or ‘telephone’ plus, that is,in conjunction with, whatever is returned from the <name> rule and the<when> rule. The <name> rule accepts ‘bob’ or ‘martha’ or ‘joe’ or‘pete’ or ‘chris’ or ‘john’ or ‘artoush’ or ‘tom’, and the <when> ruleaccepts ‘today’ or ‘this afternoon’ or ‘tomorrow’ or ‘next week.’ Thecommand grammar as a whole matches utterances like these, for example:

-   -   “phone bob next week,”    -   “telephone martha this afternoon,”    -   “remind me to call chris tomorrow,” and    -   “remind me to phone pete today.”

The IVR directory application (112) of FIG. 1 is a component of the IVRdirectory service (102) that provides a web services publicationinterface through which other IVR systems may dynamically register theirdirectory information with the IVR directory service (102). The IVRdirectory application (112) provides the description (116) of the webservices publication interface by publishing the web servicespublication interface description (116) in a Universal Description,Discovery and Integration (‘UDDI’) registry hosted by the UDDI server(124). A UDDI registry is a platform-independent, XML-based registry fororganizations worldwide to list themselves on the Internet. UDDI is anopen industry initiative promulgated by the Organization for theAdvancement of Structured Information Standards (‘OASIS’), enablingorganizations to publish service listings, discover each other, anddefine how the services or software applications interact over theInternet. The UDDI registry is designed to be interrogated by SOAPmessages and to provide access to Web Services Description Language(‘WSDL’) documents describing the protocol bindings and message formatsrequired to interact with a web service listed in the UDDI registry. Inthis manner, any of the IVR systems (120) of FIG. 1 may retrieve the webservices publication interface description (116) for the IVR directoryservice (102) from the UDDI registry on the server (124). The term‘SOAP’ refers to a protocol promulgated by the World Wide Web Consortium(‘W3C’) for exchanging XML-based messages over computer networks,typically using Hypertext Transfer Protocol (‘HTTP’) or Secure HTTP(‘HTTPS’).

In the example of FIG. 1, the web services publication interfacedescription (116) of FIG. 1 may be implemented as a Web ServicesDescription Language (‘WSDL’) document. The WSDL specification providesa model for describing a web service's interface as collections ofnetwork endpoints, or ports. A port is defined by associating a networkaddress with a reusable binding, and a collection of ports define aservice. Messages in a WSDL document are abstract descriptions of thedata being exchanged, and port types are abstract collections ofsupported operations. The concrete protocol and data formatspecifications for a particular port type constitutes a reusablebinding, where the messages and operations are then bound to a concretenetwork protocol and message format. In such a manner, any one of theIVR systems (120) may utilize the web services publication interfacedescription (116) to invoke the publication service provided by the IVRdirectory service (102), typically by exchanging SOAP messages with theIVR directory service (102).

In addition to providing a web services interface through which the IVRsystems (120) may provide directory information to the IVR directoryservice (102), the IVR directory application (112) also generates thevoice dialogs (114) and the grammar (113) based on the directoryinformation stored in the IVR system directory (118). Typically as theIVR system directory (118) is updated as IVR systems are added orremoved from the IVR system directory (118), the IVR directoryapplication (112) creates or modifies the voice dialogs (114) and thegrammar (113) that the IVR browser (110) processes during interactionswith callers. The IVR directory application (112) of FIG. 1 may beimplemented using Java, C, C++, C#, Perl, or any other programminglanguage as will occur to those of skill in the art.

The exemplary system of FIG. 1, the voice dialogs (114), the grammars(113), the publication interface description (116), and the IVR systemdirectory (118) are stored in a repository (144) operatively coupled tothe IVR directory service (102). The repository (144) may be implementedas a database stored locally on the IVR directory server (152) orremotely stored and accessed through a network. The IVR directoryapplication (112) may be operatively coupled to such an exemplaryrepository through an application programming interface (‘API’) exposedby a database management system (‘DBMS’) such as, for example, an APIprovided by the Open Database Connectivity (‘ODBC’) specification, theJava database connectivity (‘JDBC’) specification, and so on.

In the example of FIG. 1, the caller (138) accesses the IVR directoryservice (102) and the IVR systems (120) using a Time DivisionMultiplexing (‘TDM’) phone (142) or a Voice over Internet Protocol(‘VoIP’) phone (140). The TDM phone (142) of FIG. 1 is a telephone thatoperates using a circuit switched network (128). The circuit switchednetwork (128) of FIG. 1 establishes a fixed communications channelbetween nodes before any communications between the nodes takes place.The circuit switched network (128) of FIG. 1 may be implemented as aPublic Switched Telephone Network (‘PSTN’), ISDN B-channel network,Circuit Switched Data (‘CSD’) and High-Speed Circuit-Switched Data(HSCSD) network in cellular systems such as GSM, an X.21 network, orother as will occur to those of skill in the art.

The VoIP phone (140) is a telephone that operates using a packetswitched network such as networks (100, 130) of FIG. 1. ‘VoIP’ is ageneric term for routing speech over an IP-based data communicationsnetwork. The speech data flows over a general-purpose packet-switcheddata communications network, instead of traditional dedicated,circuit-switched voice transmission lines. Protocols used to carry voicesignals over the IP data communications network are commonly referred toas ‘Voice over IP’ or ‘VoIP’ protocols. VoIP traffic may be deployed onany IP data communications network, including data communicationsnetworks lacking a connection to the rest of the Internet, for instanceon a private building-wide local area data communications network or‘LAN.’

Many protocols are used to effect VoIP. The two most popular types ofVoIP are effected with the IETF's Session Initiation Protocol (‘SIP’)and the ITU's protocol known as ‘H.323.’ SIP clients use TCP and UDPport 5060 to connect to SIP servers. SIP itself is used to set up andtear down calls for speech transmission. VoIP with SIP then uses RTP fortransmitting the actual encoded speech. Similarly, H.323 is an umbrellarecommendation from the standards branch of the InternationalTelecommunications Union that defines protocols to provide audio-visualcommunication sessions on any packet data communications network.

In the example of FIG. 1, all of the servers and devices are connectedtogether through various communications networks (100, 128, 130). TheIVR directory server, the IVR server (122 a), the VoIP phone (140), andthe UDDI server (124) connect to the packet switched network (100)through a wireline connection. The IVR servers (122 b, 122 c) connect tothe packet switched network (130) through wireline connections. Thepacket switched networks (100, 130) connect through a gateway (134). TheTDM phone (142) connects to the circuit switch network (128) through awireless connection, although in many embodiments, a TDM phone mayutilize a wireline connection. The circuit switch network (128) connectsto the packet switch networks (100, 130) through gateways (132, 136),respectively, which provide translation between protocols used in thecircuit switch network (128) such as PSTN-V5 and protocols used in thepacket switch networks (100, 130) such as SIP.

The packet switched networks (100, 130) of FIG. 1 are composed of aplurality of computers that function as data communications routers,switches, or gateways connected for data communications with packetswitching protocols. Such packet switched networks (100, 130) may beimplemented with optical connections, wireline connections, or withwireless connections. Such a data communications network may includeintranets, internets, local area data communications networks (‘LANs’),and wide area data communications networks (‘WANs’). Such packetswitched networks (100, 130) may implement, for example:

-   -   a link layer with the Ethernet™ Protocol or the Wireless        Ethernet™ Protocol,    -   a data communications network layer with the Internet Protocol        (‘IP’),    -   a transport layer with the Transmission Control Protocol (‘TCP’)        or the User Datagram Protocol (‘UDP’),    -   an application layer with the HyperText Transfer Protocol        (‘HTTP’), the Session Initiation Protocol (‘SIP’), the Real Time        Protocol (‘RTP’), the Distributed Multimodal Synchronization        Protocol (‘DMSP’), the Wireless Access Protocol (‘WAP’), the        Handheld Device Transfer Protocol (‘HDTP’), the ITU protocol        known as H.323, and    -   other protocols as will occur to those of skill in the art.

The circuit switched network (128) of FIG. 1 is composed of a pluralityof devices that function as exchange components, switches, antennas,base stations components, and connected for communications in a circuitswitched network (128). Such circuit switched networks (128) may beimplemented with optical connections, wireline connections, or withwireless connections. Such circuit switched networks (128) may implementthe V5.1 and V5.2 protocols along with other as will occur to those ofskill in the art.

The arrangement of the devices (152, 122, 124, 132, 134, 136, 140, 142)and the networks (100, 128, 130) making up the exemplary systemillustrated in FIG. 1 are for explanation, not for limitation. Dataprocessing systems useful for dynamically publishing directoryinformation for a plurality of IVR systems according to variousembodiments of the present invention may include additional servers,routers, switches, gateways, other devices, and peer-to-peerarchitectures or others, not shown in FIG. 1, as will occur to those ofskill in the art. Networks in such data processing systems may supportmany protocols in addition to those noted above. Various embodiments ofthe present invention may be implemented on a variety of hardwareplatforms in addition to those illustrated in FIG. 1.

Dynamically publishing directory information for a plurality of IVRsystems according to embodiments of the present invention may beimplemented with one or more computers, that is, automated computingmachinery. For further explanation, therefore, FIG. 2 sets forth a blockdiagram of automated computing machinery comprising an example of an IVRdirectory server (152) for use in dynamically publishing directoryinformation for a plurality of IVR systems according to embodiments ofthe present invention. The IVR directory server (152) of FIG. 2 includesat least one processor (156) or ‘CPU’ as well as random access memory(168) (‘RAM’) which is connected through a high speed memory bus (166)and bus adapter (158) to processor (156) and to other components of theIVR directory server.

Stored in RAM (168) of FIG. 2 is an IVR directory service (102) that isa specialized IVR system that provides callers with directoryinformation of other IVR systems registered with the IVR directoryservice (102). The IVR directory service (102) includes an IVR browser(110) and an IVR directory application (112) that function in the mannerdescribed above. The IVR directory service (102) includes a set of IVRdirectory server program instructions capable of dynamically publishingdirectory information for a plurality of IVR systems according toembodiments of the present invention. The signaling module (106)operates generally for dynamically publishing directory information fora plurality of IVR systems according to embodiments of the presentinvention by: providing a description (116) of a web servicespublication interface for the IVR directory service (102); receiving, onbehalf of one or more IVR systems requesting publication, web servicespublication requests through the web services publication interface forthe IVR directory service (102); determining, in response to the webservices publication requests, directory information for each IVR systemrequesting publication; adding the directory information for each IVRsystem to an IVR system directory (118); generating a voice mode userinterface to reflect the directory information for each IVR system addedto the IVR system directory (118); and interacting, using the voice modeuser interface, with a caller to identify a particular IVR system independence upon the IVR system directory (118) and query informationprovided by the caller and to connect the caller with the identified IVRsystem. As described above, the voice mode user interface is typicallyimplemented using voice dialogs (114) and grammars (113) specified inthe voice dialogs (114).

Also stored in RAM (168) is a speech engine (153). The speech engine(153) of FIG. 2 is a functional module, typically a software module,although it may include specialized hardware also, that does the work ofrecognizing and generating human speech. The speech engine (153)includes an ASR engine (150) for speech recognition and a text-to-speech(‘TTS’) engine (194) for generating speech. The speech engine alsoincludes grammars (104), lexicons (106), and language-specific acousticmodels (108).

The acoustic models (108) associate speech waveform data representingrecorded pronunciations of speech with textual representations of thosepronunciations, which are referred to as ‘phonemes.’ The speech waveformdata may be implemented as a Speech Feature Vector (‘SFV’) that may berepresented, for example, by the first twelve or thirteen Fourier orfrequency domain components of a sample of digitized speech waveform.Accordingly, the acoustic models (108) may be implemented as datastructures or tables in a database, for example, that associates theseSFVs with phonemes representing, to the extent that it is practicallyfeasible to do so, all pronunciations of all the words in various humanlanguages, each language having a separate acoustic model (108). Thelexicons (106) are associations of words in text form with phonemesrepresenting pronunciations of each word; the lexicon effectivelyidentifies words that are capable of recognition by an ASR engine. Eachlanguage has a separate lexicon (106).

The grammars (104) of FIG. 2 communicate to the ASR engine (150) thewords and sequences of words that currently may be recognized. Forprecise understanding, readers will distinguish the purpose of thegrammar and the purpose of the lexicon.

The lexicon associates with phonemes all the words that the ASR enginecan recognize. The grammar communicates the words currently eligible forrecognition. The set of words currently eligible for recognition and theset of words capable of recognition may or may not be the same.

Also stored in RAM (168) is an operating system (154). Operating systemsuseful in voice servers according to embodiments of the presentinvention include UNIX™, Linux™, Microsoft Vista™, IBM's AIX™, IBM'si5/OS™, and others as will occur to those of skill in the art. Operatingsystem (154), speech engine (153), grammar analysis module (132),grammar reliability table (134), and background noises (142) in theexample of FIG. 2 are shown in RAM (168), but many components of suchsoftware typically are stored in non-volatile memory also, for example,on a disk drive (170).

IVR directory server (152) of FIG. 2 includes bus adapter (158), acomputer hardware component that contains drive electronics for highspeed buses, the front side bus (162), the video bus (164), and thememory bus (166), as well as drive electronics for the slower expansionbus (160). Examples of bus adapters useful in IVR directory serversaccording to embodiments of the present invention include the IntelNorthbridge, the Intel Memory Controller Hub, the Intel Southbridge, andthe Intel I/O Controller Hub. Examples of expansion buses useful in IVRdirectory servers according to embodiments of the present inventioninclude Peripheral Component Interconnect (‘PCI’) and PCI-Extended(‘PCI-X’) bus, as well as PCI Express (‘PCIe’) point to point expansionarchitectures and others.

IVR directory server (152) of FIG. 2 includes disk drive adapter (172)coupled through expansion bus (160) and bus adapter (158) to processor(156) and other components of the IVR directory server (152). Disk driveadapter (172) connects non-volatile data storage to the IVR directoryserver (152) in the form of disk drive (170). Disk drive adapters usefulin IVR directory servers include Integrated Drive Electronics (‘IDE’)adapters, Small Computer System Interface (‘SCSI’) adapters, and othersas will occur to those of skill in the art. In addition, non-volatilecomputer memory may be implemented for an IVR directory server as anoptical disk drive, electrically erasable programmable read-only memory(so-called ‘EEPROM’ or ‘Flash’ memory), RAM drives, and so on, as willoccur to those of skill in the art.

The example IVR directory server of FIG. 2 includes one or moreinput/output (‘I/O’) adapters (178). I/O adapters in IVR directoryservers implement user-oriented input/output through, for example,software drivers and computer hardware for controlling output to displaydevices such as computer display screens, as well as user input fromuser input devices (181) such as keyboards and mice. The example IVRdirectory server of FIG. 2 includes a video adapter (209), which is anexample of an I/O adapter specially designed for graphic output to adisplay device (180) such as a display screen or computer monitor. Videoadapter (209) is connected to processor (156) through a high speed videobus (164), bus adapter (158), and the front side bus (162), which isalso a high speed bus.

The exemplary IVR directory server (152) of FIG. 2 includes acommunications adapter (167) for data communications with other computer(182) and for data communications with a data communications network(100). Such data communications may be carried out serially throughRS-232 connections, through external buses such as a Universal SerialBus (‘USB’), through data communications data communications networkssuch as IP data communications networks, and in other ways as will occurto those of skill in the art. Communications adapters implement thehardware level of data communications through which one computer sendsdata communications to another computer, directly or through a datacommunications network. Examples of communications adapters useful fortesting a grammar used in speech recognition for reliability in aplurality of operating environments having different background noiseaccording to embodiments of the present invention include modems forwired dial-up communications, Ethernet (IEEE 802.3) adapters for wireddata communications network communications, and 802.11 adapters forwireless data communications network communications.

For further explanation, FIG. 3 sets forth a flow chart illustrating anexemplary method of dynamically publishing directory information for aplurality of IVR systems according to embodiments of the presentinvention. Dynamically publishing directory information for a pluralityof IVR systems according to embodiments of the present invention iscarried out by an IVR directory service (102). The IVR directory service(102) of FIG. 3 may operate on a single computer or be distributedacross multiple computers.

The method of FIG. 3 includes providing (300), by an IVR directoryservice (102), a description (116) of a web services publicationinterface for the IVR directory service (102). The IVR directory service(102) may provide (300) a description (116) of a web servicespublication interface for the IVR directory service (102) by publishingthe web services publication interface description (116) in a UDDIregistry for other IVR systems to obtain. The web services publicationinterface description (116) of FIG. 3 represents a web servicesinterface provided by the IVR directory service (102) that allows theweb service components of other systems to publish directory informationwith the IVR directory service (102). For example, consider thefollowing exemplary web services publication interface description:

01: <?xml version=“1.0” encoding=“UTF-8”?> 02: <wsdl:definitions 03:  xmlns:impl=“http://service.example.com” 04:  xmlns:intf=“http://service.example.com” 05:  xmlns:wsdl=“http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/wsdl/” 06:  xmlns:wsdlsoap=“http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/wsdl/soap/” 07:  xmlns:wsi=“http://ws-i.org/profiles/basic/1.1/xsd” 08:   xmlns:xsd =“http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema” 09:  targetNamespace=“http://service.example.com”> 10: <wsdl:types> 11:<schema xmlns=“http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema” 12:  targetNamespace=“http://service.example.com” 13:  xmlns:impl=“http://service.example.com” 14:  xmlns:intf=“http://service.example.com” 15:  xmlns:wsdl=“http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/wsdl/” 16:  xmlns:xsd=“http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema”> 17:   <complexTypename=“CompanyInfo”> 18:     <sequence> 19:       <elementname=“companyName” nillable=“false” 20:         type=“xsd:string”/> 21:      <element name=“keyWords” nillable=“false” type= 22:        “xsd:string”/> 23:       <element name=“products”nillable=“false” type= 24:         “xsd:string”/> 25:       <elementname=“phoneNumber” nillable=“false” 26:         type=“xsd:string”/> 27:    </sequence> 28:   </complexType> 29:   <elementname=“setCompanyInfoResponse” nillable=“false” 30:     type=“string”/>31:   <element name=“setCompanyInfo” type=“impl:CompanyInfo”/> 32:</schema> 33: </wsdl:types> 34: <wsdl:messagename=“setCompanyInfoResponse”> 35:   <wsdl:partelement=“impl:setCompanyInfoResponse” 36:     name=“parameters”/> 37:</wsdl:message> 38: <wsdl:message name=“setCompanyInfoRequest”> 39:  <wsdl:part element=“impl:setCompanyInfo”   name=“parameters”/> 40:</wsdl:message> 41: <wsdl:portType name=“IVR411”> 42:   <wsdl:operationname=“setCompanyInfo”> 43:     <wsdl:inputmessage=“impl:setCompanyInfoRequest” 44:      name=“setCompanyInfoRequest”/> 45:     <wsdl:outputmessage=“impl:setCompanyInfoResponse” 46:      name=“setCompanyInfoResponse”/> 47:   </wsdl:operation> 48:</wsdl:portType> 49: <wsdl:binding name=“IVR411SoapBinding”type=“impl:IVR411”> 50:   <wsdlsoap:binding style=“document” 51:    transport=“http://schemas.xmlsoap.org/soap/http”/> 52:  <wsdl:operation name=“setCompanyInfo”> 53:     <wsdlsoap:operationsoapAction=“”/> 54:     <wsdl:input name=“setCompanyInfoRequest”> 55:      <wsdlsoap:body use=“literal”/> 56:     </wsdl:input> 57:    <wsdl:output name=“setCompanyInfoResponse”> 58:       <wsdlsoap:bodyuse=“literal”/> 59:     </wsdl:output> 60:   </wsdl:operation> 61:</wsdl:binding> 62: <wsdl:service name=“IVR411Service”> 63:   <wsdl:portbinding=“impl:IVR411SoapBinding”   name=“IVR411”> 64:    <wsdlsoap:address location= 65:      “http://some.domain.com/Test/services/IVR411”/> 66:   </wsdl:port>67: </wsdl:service> 68: </wsdl:definitions>

The exemplary web services publication interface description aboveinforms other web services that an ‘IVR411Service,’ which is animplementation of an IVR directory service according to embodiments ofthe present application, is provided at the URI:http://some.domain.com/Test/services/IVR411. The exemplary web servicespublication interface description above then goes on to describe thetype of messages that the IVR411Service can receive from web servicecomponents of other IVR systems that want to publish directoryinformation using the IVR411Service. Using web services messagedescribed in the example above, a web service component of an IVR systemmay register that IVR system's company name, phone number, products, andkeywords with the IVR411Service.

The method of FIG. 3 also includes receiving (302), by the IVR directoryservice (102) on behalf of one or more IVR systems requestingpublication, web services publication requests (304) through the webservices publication interface for the IVR directory service (102). Eachweb services publication request (304) of FIG. 3 represents a request topublish directory information for a particular IVR system. In the methodof FIG. 3, the IVR directory service (102) may receive (302) webservices publication requests (304) on behalf of one or more IVR systemsfrom web services components of the IVR systems themselves or from thirdparty web service components instructed by the IVR system providers toregister the IVR systems with the IVR directory service (102). The IVRdirectory service (102) may receive (302) web services publicationrequests (304) through the web services publication interface for theIVR directory service (102) according to the method of FIG. 3 byreceiving a SOAP message formatted and transmitted according to the webservices publication interface description (116).

The method of FIG. 3 includes determining (306), by the IVR directoryservice (102) in response to the web services publication requests(304), directory information (308) for each IVR system requestingpublication. The directory information (308) of FIG. 3 represents lookupinformation, connection information, description information, or anyother information for an IVR system that the IVR directory service (102)may use to provide caller's information or access concerning the IVRsystem. The lookup information may include, for example, keywords orproducts identifiers used to lookup an organizations' IVR system. Theconnection information may include, for example, the telephone number toan organization's IVR system or the connection data needed to transferthe caller from the IVR directory service (102) directly to the desiredIVR system. The description information may include, for example, theorganization's name that provides the IVR system or the name of the IVRsystem itself.

The IVR directory service (102) may determine (306) directoryinformation (308) for each IVR system according to the method of FIG. 3by retrieving the directory information (308) for each IVR system fromthe web services publication requests (304) themselves. That is, when anIVR system requests that the IVR directory service (102) publish the IVRsystem, the IVR system may embedded all of the IVR system's directoryinformation in the publication request (308) for that IVR system. Insome other embodiments, the IVR system may not provide directoryinformation (308) in one of the publication requests (304). Rather, theIVR directory service (102) may determine (306) directory information(308) for each IVR system according to the method of FIG. 3 byperforming a web services exchange with each IVR system requestingpublication to obtain the directory information (308) for each IVRsystem. In such embodiments, the publication requests (304) may specifyan interface for the IVR system, perhaps through use of a WSDL document,that the IVR directory service can use to obtain the directoryinformation (308) for the IVR system. The web services exchange may becarried out using SOAP messages.

The method of FIG. 3 includes adding (310), by the IVR directory service(102), the directory information (308) for each IVR system to an IVRsystem directory (118). The IVR directory service (102) may add (310)the directory information (308) for each IVR system to an IVR systemdirectory (118) according to the method of FIG. 3 by associating thedirectory information (308) provided by each IVR system with the IVRsystem that provided the directory information (308) in the IVR systemdirectory (118). In the example of FIG. 3, the IVR system directory(118) is implemented using one or more tables capable of associating anIVR system with directory information (308) for that IVR system. Eachrecord of the exemplary IVR system directory (118) includes an IVRsystem identifier field (312) and three directory information fields(314, 316, 318). The IVR system identifier field (312) specifies aparticular IVR system published by the IVR directory service (102). Thethree directory information fields (314, 316, 318) specify directoryinformation (308) for the associated IVR system.

The method of FIG. 3 also includes generating (320), by the IVRdirectory service (102), a voice mode user interface to reflect thedirectory information (308) for each IVR system added to the IVR systemdirectory (118). The voice mode user interface represents a set ofinstructions allow the IVR directory service (102) to provide andreceive information from a caller using speech and keypad touch tones.The IVR directory service (102) may generate (320) the voice mode userinterface according to the method of FIG. 3 by creating one or more IVRvoice dialogs (324) in dependence upon the directory information (308)in the IVR system directory (118). The IVR voice dialogs (324) of FIG. 3are documents that specify the call flow defining the interactionbetween the IVR directory server (102) and a caller. The voice dialogs(324) may be implemented using VoiceXML, SALT, T-XML, or in any otherlanguage as will occur to those of skill in the art. In addition, theIVR directory service (102) may generate (320) the voice mode userinterface according to the method of FIG. 3 by creating one or more IVRgrammars (322) in dependence upon the directory information (308) in theIVR system directory (118). The grammars (322) of FIG. 1 communicate toa speech engine the words and sequences of words eligible for speechrecognition during the interactions specified by the voice dialogs(324).

The IVR directory service (102) may create the voice dialogs (324) andthe grammars (322) by querying the IVR system directory (118) using somepredefined queries and incorporating the query results in a one or morevoice dialog templates and one or more grammar templates. The queriesmay be implemented using a Structured Query Language (‘SQL’) such as,for example, SQL:2006 promulgated by the International Organization forStandardization (‘ISO’). Consider for example that the IVR systemdirectory (118) contains the following exemplary directory information:

TABLE 1 EXEMPLARY IVR SYSTEM DIRECTORY IVR SYSTEM TELEPHONE ID COMPANYNAME KEYWORDS PRODUCTS NO. 0 ACME Electronics electronics television,(123)456-7890 radio 1 Mom and Pop's food, pizza (234)567-8900 Pizzarestaurant oven 2 Western Steakhouse food, — (345)678-9000 restaurant

Based on the exemplary IVR system directory above in Table 1, the IVRdirectory service (102) may perform queries and incorporate the queryresults into a voice dialog template to form the following exemplaryvoice dialog:

01: <!DOCTYPE vxml PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD VOICEXML 2.1//EN” 02:  “vxml21-0728.dtd”> 03: <vxml xmlns=“http://www.w3.org/2001/vxml”version=“2.1” 04:   xml:lang=“en-US”> 05: 06: <!--Begin CommunicationFlow--> 07: <!--Voice441 service--> 08: <property name=“universals”value=“help cancel” /> 09: <property name=“audiomaxage” value=“1” /> 10:<var name=“mode” expr=“‘speech’” /> 11: <var name=“previousResult” />12: 13: <!--Do you want to search by key word, product, or companyname?--> 14: <var name=“P00010” /> 15: <form id=“P00010”> 16:   <fieldname=“fP00010”> 17:     <option value=“key word”>key word</option> 18:    <option value=“product”>product</option> 18:     <optionvalue=“company name”>company name</option> 19:     <prompt cond=“mode ==‘speech’” bargein=“true”> 20:       <audiosrc=“findco%20audio/P00010s1.au”> Do you 21:       want to search by keyword, product, or company 22:       name? </audio> 23:     </prompt> 24:    <filled> 25:       <assign name=“P00010” expr=“fP00010” /> 26:      <assign name=“previousResult” expr=“fP00010” /> 27:       <ifcond=“fP00010 == ‘key word’”> 28:         <goto next=“#P00020” /> 29:      <elseif cond=“fP00010 == ‘product’” /> 30:         <gotonext=“#P00025” /> 31:       <elseif cond=“fP00010 == ‘company name’” />32:         <goto next=“#P00030” /> 33:       </if> 34:     </filled>35:   </field> 36: </form> 37: 38: <!--Please say the key word to searchfor--> 39: <var name=“P00020” /> 40: <form id=“P00020”> 41:   <fieldname=“fP00020”> 42:     <grammar src=“keywords.grxml”/> 43:     <promptcond=“mode == ‘speech’” bargein=“true”> 44:       <audiosrc=“findco%20audio/P00020s1.au”> 45:         Please say the key word tosearch for 46:       </audio> 47:     </prompt> 48:     <filled> 49:      <assign name=“P00020” expr=“fP00020” /> 50:       <assignname=“previousResult” expr=“fP00020” /> 51:       <if cond=“fP00020 ==‘food’”> 52:         <goto next=“#P00040” /> 53:       <elseifcond=“fP00020 == ‘electronics’” /> 54:         <goto next=“R00020”/> 55:      </if> 56:     </filled> 57:   </field> 58: </form> 59: 60:<!--Call tel:1234567890 when keyword is electronics or co. is ACME-->61: <form id=“R00020”> 62:   <transfer name=“mycall”dest=“tel:+1-123-456-7890” 63:     transferaudio=“music.wav”connecttimeout=“60s” 64:     bridge=“true”/> 65: </form> 66: 67:<!--Please choose from the following companies within food topic--> 68:<var name=“P00040”/> 69: <form id=“P00040”> 70:   <field name=“fP00040”>71:     <option value=“Mom and Pop's Pizza”> 72:       Mom and Pop'sPizza</option> 73:     <option value=“Western Steakhouse”> 74:      Western Steakhouse</option> 75:     <prompt cond=“mode ==‘speech’” bargein=“true”> 76:       <audiosrc=“findco%20audio/P00040s1.au”> 77:         Please choose from thefollowing 78:       </audio> 79:     </prompt> 80:     <filled> 81:      <assign name=“P00040” expr=“fP00040”/> 82:       <assignname=“previousResult” expr=“fP00040”/> 83:     </filled> 84:   </field>85: </form> 86: 87: <!--Please say the product name--> 88: <varname=“P00025”/> 89: <form id=“P00025”> 90:   <field name=“fP00025”> 91:    <option value=“television”> 92:       television</option> 93:    <option value=“radio”> 94:       radio</option> 95:     <optionvalue=“pizza oven”> 96:       pizza oven</option> 97:     <promptcond=“mode == ‘speech’” bargein=“true”> 98:       <audiosrc=“findco%20audio/P00025s1.au”> 99:         Please say the productname 100:       </audio> 101:     </prompt> 102:     <filled> 103:      <assign name=“P00025” expr=“fP00025” /> 104:       <assignname=“previousResult” expr=“fP00025” /> 105:       <if cond=“fP00025 ==‘television’”> 106:         <goto next=“R00020”/> 107:       <elseifcond=“fP00025 == ‘radio’” /> 108:         <goto next=“R00020”/> 109:      <elseif cond=“fP00025 == ‘pizza oven’” /> 110:         <gotonext=“R00030”/> 111:       </if> 112:     </filled> 113:   </field> 114:</form> 115: 116: <!--Please say the company name--> 117: <varname=“P00030”/> 118: <form id=“P00030”> 119:   <field name=“fP00030”>120:     <option value=“ACME Electronics”> 121:       ACMEElectronics</option> 122:     <option value=“Mom and Pop's Pizza”> 123:      Mom and Pops Pizza</option> 124:     <option value=“WesternSteakhouse”> 125:       Western Steakhouse</option> 126:     <promptcond=“mode == ‘speech’” bargein=“true”> 127:       <audiosrc=“findco%20audio/P00030s1.au”> 128:         Please say the companyname 129:       </audio> 130:     </prompt> 131:     <filled> 132:      <assign name=“P00030” expr=“fP00030” /> 133:       <assignname=“previousResult” expr=“fP00030” /> 134:       <if cond=“fP00030 ==‘Mom and Pops Pizza’”> 135:         <goto next=“R00030”/> 136:      <elseif cond=“fP00030 == ‘Western Steakhouse’” /> 137:        <goto next=“R00040”/> 138:       <elseif cond=“fP00030 == ‘ACMEElectronics’” /> 139:         <goto next=“R00020”/> 140:       </if>141:     </filled> 142:   </field> 143: </form> 144: 145: <!--Calltel:2345678900 when Mom & Pop Pizza selected--> 146: <form id=“R00030”>147:   <transfer name=“mycall” dest=“tel:+1-234-567-8900” 148:    transferaudio=“music.wav” connecttimeout=“60s” 149:    bridge=“true”/> 150: </form> 151: 152: <!--Call tel: 3456789000 whenWestern Steakhouse selected--> 153: <form id=“R00040”> 154:   <transfername=“mycall” dest=“tel:+1-345-678-9000” 155:    transferaudio=“music.wav” connecttimeout=“60s” 156:    bridge=“true”/> 157: </form> 158: </vxml>

In a similar manner, based on the exemplary IVR system directory abovein Table 1, the IVR directory service (102) may perform queries andincorporate the query results into a voice dialog template to form thefollowing exemplary grammars used in the exemplary dialog above:

01: <!--Keywords Grammar--> 02: <?xml version=“1.0” encoding=“iso-8859-1”?> 03: <!DOCTYPE grammar PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD GRAMMAR1.0//EN” 04:   “http://www.w3.org/TR/speech-grammar/grammar.dtd”> 05:<grammar version=“1.0” xmlns=“http://www.w3.org/2001/ 06/grammar” 06:  xml:lang=“en-US” root=“main_rule”> 07:   <rule id=“main_rule”scope=“public”> 08:     <one-of> 09:       <item>Food</item> 10:      <item>Restaurants<tag>Food</tag> </item> 11:      <item>Electronics</item> 12:     </one-of> 13:   </rule> 14:</grammar> 01: <!--Products Grammar--> 02: <?xml version=“1.0” encoding=“iso-8859-1”?> 03: <!DOCTYPE grammar PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD GRAMMAR1.0//EN” 04:   “http://www.w3.org/TR/speech-grammar/grammar.dtd”> 05:<grammar version=“1.0” xmlns=“http://www.w3.org/2001/ 06/grammar” 06:  xml:lang=“en-US” root=“main_rule”> 07:   <rule id=“main_rule”scope=“public”> 08:     <one-of> 09:       <item>television</item> 10:      <item>radio</item> 11:       <item>pizza oven</item> 12:    </one-of> 13:   </rule> 14: </grammar> 01: <!--Companies Grammar-->02: <?xml version=“1.0” encoding =“iso-8859-1”?> 03: <!DOCTYPE grammarPUBLIC “-//W3C//DTD GRAMMAR 1.0//EN” 04:  “http://www.w3.org/TR/speech-grammar/grammar.dtd”> 05: <grammarversion=“1.0” xmlns=“http://www.w3.org/2001/ 06/grammar” 06:  xml:lang=“en-US” root=“main_rule”> 07:   <rule id=“main_rule”scope=“public”> 08:     <one-of> 09:       <item> ACMEElectronics</item> 10:       <item> Mom and Pops Pizza</item> 11:      <item> Western Steakhouse</item> 12:     </one-of> 13:   </rule>14: </grammar> 01: <!--Food Keyword Grammar--> 02: <?xml version=“1.0”encoding =“iso-8859-1”?> 03: <!DOCTYPE grammar PUBLIC “-//W3C//DTDGRAMMAR 1.0//EN” 04:  “http://www.w3.org/TR/speech-grammar/grammar.dtd”> 05: <grammarversion=“1.0” xmlns=“http://www.w3.org/2001/ 06/grammar” 06:  xml:lang=“en-US” root=“main_rule”> 07:   <rule id=“main_rule”scope=“public”> 08:     <one-of> 09:       <item> Mom and PopsPizza</item> 10:       <item> Western Steakhouse</item> 11:    </one-of> 12:   </rule> 13: </grammar>

Readers will note that generating (320) a voice mode user interface toreflect the directory information (308) for each IVR system in the IVRsystem directory (118) according to embodiments of the present inventionadvantageously allows an IVR system to dynamically publish itself tocallers that utilize the IVR directory service (102). That is, the voicemode user interface of the IVR directory service is updated shortlyafter the directory information for a new IVR system is added to thedirectory (118) rather than having to wait extended periods of time suchas weeks or months before callers are able to discover or use the IVRsystem's directory information. Reader will further note that theexemplary voice dialog and the exemplary grammars above are forexplanation only and not for limitation.

The method of FIG. 3 includes interacting (326), by the IVR directoryservice (102) using the voice mode user interface, with a caller toidentify a particular IVR system in dependence upon the IVR systemdirectory (118) and query information (328) provided by the caller andto connect the caller with the identified IVR system. The IVR directoryservice (102) may interact (326) with a caller using the voice mode userinterface to identify a particular IVR system according to the method ofFIG. 3 by rendering the voice dialogs (324) and grammars (322),receiving speech input from the caller, and utilizing speech recognitionresults of the caller's speech input to query the IVR system directory(118). Continuing with the exemplary voice dialog and exemplary grammarsabove, consider following use case describing and interaction betweenthe IVR directory service (102) and a caller using the voice mode userinterface to identify a particular IVR system. Rendering the exemplaryvoice dialog above would provide the user with the following initialprompt:

-   -   Do you want to search by key word, product, or company name?

The IVR directory service (102) utilizes a speech engine to identify thecaller's response as ‘key word,’ ‘product,’ or ‘company.’ When thecaller's response to the initial prompt is ‘key word,’ the IVR directoryservice (102) renders this subsequent prompt:

-   -   Please say the key word to search for.

The IVR directory service (102) uses the exemplary keyword grammar and aspeech engine to identify the caller's response. If the caller'sresponse is ‘electronics,’ then the IVR directory service (102) queriesthe IVR system directory (118) for records having ‘electronics’ as akeyword. Because ACME electronics is the only business associated withthe keyword ‘electronics,’ the IVR directory service (102) transfers thecaller to the IVR system for ACME Electronics using the telephone numberassociated with ACME Electronics in the directory (118). If the caller'sresponse is ‘food,’ then the IVR directory service (102) renders thefollowing prompt to the caller:

-   -   Please choose from the following:        -   Mom and Pop's Pizza        -   Western Steakhouse.

The IVR directory service (102) then uses the exemplary food keywordgrammar and a speech engine to identify the caller's response. If thecaller's response is “Mom and Pop's Pizza,” then the IVR directoryservice (102) queries the IVR system directory (118) for the phonenumber associated with “Mom and Pop's Pizza” and transfers the caller tothe IVR system for Mom and Pop's Pizza using that telephone number. Ifthe caller's response is “Western Steakhouse,” then the IVR directoryservice (102) queries the IVR system directory (118) for the phonenumber associated with “Western Steakhouse” and transfers the caller tothe IVR system for Western Steakhouse using that telephone number.

When the caller's response to the initial prompt of “Do you want tosearch by key word, product, or company name?” is ‘product,’ the IVRdirectory service (102) renders this subsequent prompt:

-   -   Please say the product name.

The IVR directory service (102) uses the exemplary product grammar and aspeech engine to identify the caller's response. The IVR directoryservice (102) then queries the IVR system directory (118) for thecompanies associated with the products specified by the caller. If thecaller's response is ‘television’ or ‘radio,’ then the IVR directoryservice (102) queries the IVR system directory (118) and determines thatonly ACME Electronics is associated with ‘television’ or ‘radio.’Accordingly, the IVR directory service (102) transfers the caller to theIVR system for ACME Electronics using the telephone number associatedwith ACME Electronics in the directory (118). If the caller's responseis ‘pizza oven,’ then the IVR directory service (102) queries the IVRsystem directory (118) and determines that only Mom and Pop's Pizza isassociated with ‘pizza oven.’ Accordingly, the IVR directory service(102) transfers the caller to the IVR system for Mom and Pop's Pizzausing the telephone number associated with Mom and Pop's Pizza in thedirectory (118).

When the caller's response to the initial prompt of “Do you want tosearch by key word, product, or company name?” is ‘product,’ the IVRdirectory service (102) renders this subsequent prompt:

-   -   Please say the company name.

The IVR directory service (102) uses the exemplary company grammar and aspeech engine to identify the caller's response. When the caller'sresponse is ‘ACME Electronics,’ the IVR directory service (102) queriesthe IVR directory repository (118) for the telephone number associatedwith ACME Electronics and transfers the caller to the IVR system of ACMEElectronics using that telephone number. When the caller's response is“Mom and Pop's Pizza,” the IVR directory service (102) queries the IVRdirectory repository (118) for the telephone number associated with Momand Pop's Pizza and transfers the caller to the IVR system of Mom andPop's Pizza using that telephone number. When the caller's response is‘Western Steakhouse,’ the IVR directory service (102) queries the IVRdirectory repository (118) for the telephone number associated withWestern Steakhouse and transfers the caller to the IVR system of WesternSteakhouse using that telephone number. Readers will note that theexemplary use case above is for explanation only and not for limitation.

The description with reference to FIG. 3 explains dynamic publishing ofdirectory information according to embodiments of the present inventionas the directory information for IVR systems is added to the IVR systemrepository using web services. In addition, dynamic publishing ofdirectory information according to embodiments of the present inventionmay also be carried out as the IVR system repository is updated withupdated directory information for IVR systems using web services. Forexample, the telephone number for an IVR system may have been changed.For further explanation, FIG. 4 sets forth a flow chart illustrating afurther exemplary method of dynamically publishing directory informationfor a plurality of IVR systems according to embodiments of the presentinvention.

The method of FIG. 4 includes receiving (400), by the IVR directoryservice (102) on behalf of one of the IVR systems, a web services updaterequest (402). The web services update request (402) of FIG. 4represents a request to updated directory information published for aparticular IVR system. The format of the web services update request(402) may be specified in a WSDL document published by the IVR directoryservice (102) in a UDDI registry in a manner similar to the web servicespublication requests described above. In the method of FIG. 4, the IVRdirectory service (102) may receive (400) a web services update request(402) on behalf of one of the IVR systems as a SOAP message from webservices components of the IVR systems themselves or from third partyweb service components instructed by the IVR system providers toregister the IVR systems with the IVR directory service (102).

The method of FIG. 4 also includes determining (404), by the IVRdirectory service (102) in response to the web services update request(402), updated directory information (406) for the IVR system. Theupdated directory information (406) of FIG. 4 represents updated lookupinformation, updated connection information, updated descriptioninformation, or any other updated information for an IVR system. The IVRdirectory service (102) may determine (404) the updated directoryinformation (406) for the IVR system according to the method of FIG. 4by retrieving the updated directory information (406) for the IVR systemfrom the web services update requests (402) itself. In some otherembodiments, the IVR directory service (102) may determine (404) theupdated directory information (406) for the IVR system according to themethod of FIG. 4 by performing a web services exchange with the IVRsystem issuing the update request (402) to obtain the updated directoryinformation (406).

The method of FIG. 4 includes updating (408), by the IVR directoryservice (102), the IVR system directory (118) with the updated directoryinformation (406) for the IVR system. The IVR directory service (102)may update (408) the IVR system directory (118) with the updateddirectory information (406) according to the method of FIG. 4 byassociating the updated directory information (406) with the IVR systemthat requesting the update in the IVR system directory (118). In theexample of FIG. 4, the IVR system directory (118) is implemented usingone or more tables capable of associating an IVR system with directoryinformation for that IVR system. Each record of the exemplary IVR systemdirectory (118) includes an IVR system identifier field (312) and threedirectory information fields (314, 316, 318). The IVR system identifierfield (312) specifies a particular IVR system published by the IVRdirectory service (102). The three directory information fields (314,316, 318) specify directory information for the associated IVR system.

The method of FIG. 4 also includes generating (410), by the IVRdirectory service (102), an updated voice mode user interface to reflectthe updated IVR system directory (118) with the updated directoryinformation (406) for the IVR system. The updated voice mode userinterface represents a set of instructions that allow the IVR directoryservice (102) to provide and receive information from a caller usingspeech and keypad touch tones based on the updated directory informationprovided by the IVR system. The IVR directory service (102) may generate(410) the updated voice mode user interface according to the method ofFIG. 4 by creating one or more IVR voice dialogs (324) in dependenceupon the updated directory information (406) in the IVR system directory(118). In addition, the IVR directory service (102) may generate (410)the updated voice mode user interface according to the method of FIG. 4by creating one or more IVR grammars (322) in dependence upon theupdated directory information (406) in the IVR system directory (118).

Readers will note that generating (410) an updated voice mode userinterface to reflect the updated IVR system directory (118) with theupdated directory information (406) according to embodiments of thepresent invention advantageously allows an IVR system to dynamicallyupdate publication information provided by the IVR directory server(102) to callers. That is, the voice mode user interface of the IVRdirectory service is updated shortly after the directory (118) isupdated with updated directory information for an IVR system rather thanhaving to wait extended periods of time such as weeks or months beforecallers are able to discover or use the IVR system's updated directoryinformation.

Exemplary embodiments of the present invention are described largely inthe context of a fully functional computer system for dynamicallypublishing directory information for a plurality of IVR systems. Readersof skill in the art will recognize, however, that the present inventionalso may be embodied in a computer program product disposed on computerreadable media for use with any suitable data processing system. Suchcomputer readable media may be transmission media or recordable mediafor machine-readable information, including magnetic media, opticalmedia, or other suitable media. Examples of recordable media includemagnetic disks in hard drives or diskettes, compact disks for opticaldrives, magnetic tape, and others as will occur to those of skill in theart. Examples of transmission media include telephone networks for voicecommunications and digital data communications networks such as, forexample, Ethernets™ and networks that communicate with the InternetProtocol and the World Wide Web. Persons skilled in the art willimmediately recognize that any computer system having suitableprogramming means will be capable of executing the steps of the methodof the invention as embodied in a program product. Persons skilled inthe art will recognize immediately that, although some of the exemplaryembodiments described in this specification are oriented to softwareinstalled and executing on computer hardware, nevertheless, alternativeembodiments implemented as firmware or as hardware are well within thescope of the present invention.

It will be understood from the foregoing description that modificationsand changes may be made in various embodiments of the present inventionwithout departing from its true spirit. The descriptions in thisspecification are for purposes of illustration only and are not to beconstrued in a limiting sense. The scope of the present invention islimited only by the language of the following claims.

1. A method of dynamically publishing directory information for aplurality of interactive voice response (‘IVR’) systems, the methodcomprising: providing, by an IVR directory service, a description of aweb services publication interface for the IVR directory service;receiving, by the IVR directory service on behalf of one or more IVRsystems requesting publication, web services publication requeststhrough the web services publication interface for the IVR directoryservice; determining, by the IVR directory service in response to theweb services publication requests, directory information for each IVRsystem requesting publication; adding, by the IVR directory service, thedirectory information for each IVR system to an IVR system directory;generating, by the IVR directory service, a voice mode user interface toreflect the directory information for each IVR system added to the IVRsystem directory; and interacting, by the IVR directory service usingthe voice mode user interface, with a caller to identify a particularIVR system in dependence upon the IVR system directory and queryinformation provided by the caller and to connect the caller with theidentified IVR system.
 2. The method of claim 1 wherein determining, bythe IVR directory service in response to the web services publicationrequests, directory information for each IVR system requestingpublication further comprises retrieving the directory information foreach IVR system from the web services publication requests.
 3. Themethod of claim 1 wherein determining, by the IVR directory service inresponse to the web services publication requests, directory informationfor each IVR system requesting publication further comprises performinga web services exchange with each IVR system requesting publication toobtain the directory information for each IVR system.
 4. The method ofclaim 1 wherein generating, by the IVR directory service, a voice modeuser interface to reflect the directory information for each IVR systemadded to the IVR system directory further comprises creating one or moreIVR grammars in dependence upon the directory information in the IVRsystem directory.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein generating, by theIVR directory service, a voice mode user interface to reflect thedirectory information for each IVR system added to the IVR systemdirectory further comprises creating one or more IVR voice dialogs independence upon the directory information in the IVR system directory.6. The method of claim 1 further comprising: receiving, by the IVRdirectory service on behalf of one of the IVR systems, a web servicesupdate request; determining, by the IVR directory service in response tothe web services update request, updated directory information for theIVR system; updating, by the IVR directory service, the IVR systemdirectory with the updated directory information for the IVR system; andgenerating, by the IVR directory service, an updated voice mode userinterface to reflect the updated IVR system directory with the updateddirectory information for the IVR system.
 7. Apparatus for dynamicallypublishing directory information for a plurality of interactive voiceresponse (‘IVR’) systems, the apparatus comprising a computer processorand a computer memory operatively coupled to the computer processor, thecomputer memory having disposed within it computer program instructionscapable of: providing, by an IVR directory service, a description of aweb services publication interface for the IVR directory service;receiving, by the IVR directory service on behalf of one or more IVRsystems requesting publication, web services publication requeststhrough the web services publication interface for the IVR directoryservice; determining, by the IVR directory service in response to theweb services publication requests, directory information for each IVRsystem requesting publication; adding, by the IVR directory service, thedirectory information for each IVR system to an IVR system directory;generating, by the IVR directory service, a voice mode user interface toreflect the directory information for each IVR system added to the IVRsystem directory; and interacting, by the IVR directory service usingthe voice mode user interface, with a caller to identify a particularIVR system in dependence upon the IVR system directory and queryinformation provided by the caller and to connect the caller with theidentified IVR system.
 8. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein determining,by the IVR directory service in response to the web services publicationrequests, directory information for each IVR system requestingpublication further comprises retrieving the directory information foreach IVR system from the web services publication requests.
 9. Theapparatus of claim 7 wherein determining, by the IVR directory servicein response to the web services publication requests, directoryinformation for each IVR system requesting publication further comprisesperforming a web services exchange with each IVR system requestingpublication to obtain the directory information for each IVR system. 10.The apparatus of claim 7 wherein generating, by the IVR directoryservice, a voice mode user interface to reflect the directoryinformation for each IVR system added to the IVR system directoryfurther comprises creating one or more IVR grammars in dependence uponthe directory information in the IVR system directory.
 11. The apparatusof claim 7 wherein generating, by the IVR directory service, a voicemode user interface to reflect the directory information for each IVRsystem added to the IVR system directory further comprises creating oneor more IVR voice dialogs in dependence upon the directory informationin the IVR system directory.
 12. The apparatus of claim 7 wherein thecomputer memory has disposed within it computer program instructionscapable of: receiving, by the IVR directory service on behalf of one ofthe IVR systems, a web services update request; determining, by the IVRdirectory service in response to the web services update request,updated directory information for the IVR system; updating, by the IVRdirectory service, the IVR system directory with the updated directoryinformation for the IVR system; and generating, by the IVR directoryservice, an updated voice mode user interface to reflect the updated IVRsystem directory with the updated directory information for the IVRsystem.
 13. A computer program product for dynamically publishingdirectory information for a plurality of interactive voice response(‘IVR’) systems, the computer program product disposed upon a computerreadable medium, the computer program product comprising computerprogram instructions capable of: providing, by an IVR directory service,a description of a web services publication interface for the IVRdirectory service; receiving, by the IVR directory service on behalf ofone or more IVR systems requesting publication, web services publicationrequests through the web services publication interface for the IVRdirectory service; determining, by the IVR directory service in responseto the web services publication requests, directory information for eachIVR system requesting publication; adding, by the IVR directory service,the directory information for each IVR system to an IVR systemdirectory; generating, by the IVR directory service, a voice mode userinterface to reflect the directory information for each IVR system addedto the IVR system directory; and interacting, by the IVR directoryservice using the voice mode user interface, with a caller to identify aparticular IVR system in dependence upon the IVR system directory andquery information provided by the caller and to connect the caller withthe identified IVR system.
 14. The computer program product of claim 13wherein determining, by the IVR directory service in response to the webservices publication requests, directory information for each IVR systemrequesting publication further comprises retrieving the directoryinformation for each IVR system from the web services publicationrequests.
 15. The computer program product of claim 13 whereindetermining, by the IVR directory service in response to the webservices publication requests, directory information for each IVR systemrequesting publication further comprises performing a web servicesexchange with each IVR system requesting publication to obtain thedirectory information for each IVR system.
 16. The computer programproduct of claim 13 wherein generating, by the IVR directory service, avoice mode user interface to reflect the directory information for eachIVR system added to the IVR system directory further comprises creatingone or more IVR grammars in dependence upon the directory information inthe IVR system directory.
 17. The computer program product of claim 13wherein generating, by the IVR directory service, a voice mode userinterface to reflect the directory information for each IVR system addedto the IVR system directory further comprises creating one or more IVRvoice dialogs in dependence upon the directory information in the IVRsystem directory.
 18. The computer program product of claim 13 furthercomprising computer program instructions capable of: receiving, by theIVR directory service on behalf of one of the IVR systems, a webservices update request; determining, by the IVR directory service inresponse to the web services update request, updated directoryinformation for the IVR system; updating, by the IVR directory service,the IVR system directory with the updated directory information for theIVR system; and generating, by the IVR directory service, an updatedvoice mode user interface to reflect the updated IVR system directorywith the updated directory information for the IVR system.
 19. Thecomputer program product of claim 13 wherein the computer readablemedium comprises a recordable medium.
 20. The computer program productof claim 13 wherein the computer readable medium comprises atransmission medium.